Zero turn riding lawn mowers are popular because they are speedy and low to the ground. An example of a zero turn riding lawn mower can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,283. Most importantly, this type of mower can turn on a very short radius. For this reason, zero turn type mowers have improved productivity for landscapers, grounds maintenance and commercial lawn care crews. Aerators can be mounted onto zero turn mowers (as well as other mowers and tractors) to aerate the soil with penetrating tines. Aeration is of vital importance to any lawn care maintenance program. It is advantageous to attach aerators to the front of the mower because in that manner, the operator can observe and adjust the depth of aeration as needed.
Aeration entails creating numerous small holes in the ground to increase air and oxygen absorption into the soil, as well as seed germination. Often, in existing aerating equipment, the penetration depth of the aerator tines is determined by adding a weight on the aerator frame to force the tines into the ground. Typically, these tines do not effectively rotate bi-directionally, and once weighted, the rotor assembly incorporating the tines is essentially embedded in the ground. If the lawn equipment needs to move in a direction opposite to that in which it originally aerated the soil, the tines must be manually removed from the ground and lifted while the lawn equipment is repositioned. The same is true where the lawn equipment needs to make a turn. As such, a need exists for an improved lawn aerator that can be attached to a zero turn lawn mower, preferably at the front thereof, and moved along with the lawn mower, i.e. turn on a very short radius so that it can be continually utilized as the zero turn lawn mower is propelled in multiple directions, for example, when following the outline of an ornate flower garden.